Doris Day - Grrl counter-power
To be fair - it's difficult to think of a non-self-defining feminist woman as anything but a tool of the patriarchy. I have to concentrate on the fact that even though a woman would not call herself a feminist, she would never endorse footbinding (to name a radical example) and it doesn't necessarily mean she is a doormat either. In fact, some of my favorite women scorn my feminism and hate it when they are judged solely on their marital status or gender.
Ironically if you look at films made during the so-called liberal 60s and 70s you will see that movies align the woman's role less to what is happening politically in the big wide world and more to what is happening in pornography. The rise of the snuff movie mirrored the rise of violence towards women in the movies, serial killer paradise. Pornography always centers on the woman - probably in an attempt to hide the size of the penis. From my perspective, I am less uncomfortable looking at vintage porn than Emanuelle. In vintage porn it seems like the woman is having a ball - Bohemianism is fun. By contrast, Emanuelle is the story of a woman demeaned by being forced into sex under circumstances she isn't comfortable with. She is even coerced into sex by women (although I must admit that the only seemingly consensual sex in the film is with another woman). Nowadays, porn has removed the woman from the equation altogether - one could compare her to a side of warm ham with a hole in, oh whatever, take it from the fridge and call it cold meat. The women I see in contemporary porn look like they are under the influence of cocaine or Rohipnol. What amazes me is that the men don't think there is something wrong with themselves - they are sticking their dick into a barely live woman, a hop skip and a jump away from necrophilia. And we aren't talking about happening upon a corpse in a ditch, we're talking about taking advantage of half-death and about actively administering half-death, about getting off on fucking puking, passed-out drunken cheerleaders. What does that do to a man's picture of himself? And if he is so demeaned, will he go for redemption or will he go the other way?
I saw an oh-so-brilliant play (Atalanta by Janine Lewis) where the actor who played the king could not bring himself to pee on the actress on the other side of the court, although the play screamed for it and he was pissing in every other corner, on every other 'thing'. There's still a cognisance that that's a step too far, but for how long? I believe that he should have, in the play.
All media can hold an element of truth. I believe that porn is a media - reflective of fantasies, and that fantasies are allowed, and actors are allowed to pretend to give us our fantasies, and that those fantasies reflect the world out there. Action in the real world is where I draw the line. And Dan Savage put it so well. That when you ask your partner to enact your fantasy - it's an enactment - it's safe to do it with a partner, and you can get a sense of your fantasy, safely. He was talking about a woman's rape fantasy. He suggested she find a man with a rape fantasy and form a relationship with him. For Dan it is always about finding someone who complements your fantasies.
I love Doris Day. Doris Day is a symbol of when women had power - granted it is the power granted by men. I love her poise and her sense of self. Pick any film of hers and you will see that she is what is happening in the film, the men are the supporting role. She makes the moves. She represents the non-whining version of feminism, and what she chooses is family. There are feminists who say that choosing family is dangerous, and there are feminists that say choosing family is subversive. I think Day chose. Her films seem to be answers to feminist charges. I think she was too clever to be so ignorantly stubborn. Her films are discussions of the issues alive at the time, lively discussions. And I think her conclusions work for me. And I don't think her conclusions were repression breeds repression. I think her conclusions were decency breeds decency. And when you respect each other, you can do all the 'wilde dinge', safely.
Ironically if you look at films made during the so-called liberal 60s and 70s you will see that movies align the woman's role less to what is happening politically in the big wide world and more to what is happening in pornography. The rise of the snuff movie mirrored the rise of violence towards women in the movies, serial killer paradise. Pornography always centers on the woman - probably in an attempt to hide the size of the penis. From my perspective, I am less uncomfortable looking at vintage porn than Emanuelle. In vintage porn it seems like the woman is having a ball - Bohemianism is fun. By contrast, Emanuelle is the story of a woman demeaned by being forced into sex under circumstances she isn't comfortable with. She is even coerced into sex by women (although I must admit that the only seemingly consensual sex in the film is with another woman). Nowadays, porn has removed the woman from the equation altogether - one could compare her to a side of warm ham with a hole in, oh whatever, take it from the fridge and call it cold meat. The women I see in contemporary porn look like they are under the influence of cocaine or Rohipnol. What amazes me is that the men don't think there is something wrong with themselves - they are sticking their dick into a barely live woman, a hop skip and a jump away from necrophilia. And we aren't talking about happening upon a corpse in a ditch, we're talking about taking advantage of half-death and about actively administering half-death, about getting off on fucking puking, passed-out drunken cheerleaders. What does that do to a man's picture of himself? And if he is so demeaned, will he go for redemption or will he go the other way?
I saw an oh-so-brilliant play (Atalanta by Janine Lewis) where the actor who played the king could not bring himself to pee on the actress on the other side of the court, although the play screamed for it and he was pissing in every other corner, on every other 'thing'. There's still a cognisance that that's a step too far, but for how long? I believe that he should have, in the play.
All media can hold an element of truth. I believe that porn is a media - reflective of fantasies, and that fantasies are allowed, and actors are allowed to pretend to give us our fantasies, and that those fantasies reflect the world out there. Action in the real world is where I draw the line. And Dan Savage put it so well. That when you ask your partner to enact your fantasy - it's an enactment - it's safe to do it with a partner, and you can get a sense of your fantasy, safely. He was talking about a woman's rape fantasy. He suggested she find a man with a rape fantasy and form a relationship with him. For Dan it is always about finding someone who complements your fantasies.
I love Doris Day. Doris Day is a symbol of when women had power - granted it is the power granted by men. I love her poise and her sense of self. Pick any film of hers and you will see that she is what is happening in the film, the men are the supporting role. She makes the moves. She represents the non-whining version of feminism, and what she chooses is family. There are feminists who say that choosing family is dangerous, and there are feminists that say choosing family is subversive. I think Day chose. Her films seem to be answers to feminist charges. I think she was too clever to be so ignorantly stubborn. Her films are discussions of the issues alive at the time, lively discussions. And I think her conclusions work for me. And I don't think her conclusions were repression breeds repression. I think her conclusions were decency breeds decency. And when you respect each other, you can do all the 'wilde dinge', safely.
Comments
Post a Comment